EFFICIENCY OF USING PLATELET RICH FIBRIN PLUG FOR CLOSURE OF OROANTRAL FISTULA

Background: Oroantral fistula (OAF) may occur during dental extraction of maxillary teeth, surgical operations in the maxilla or due to massive maxillary tumors or cyst. Many techniques and materials have been suggested in the literature in order to close the OAF.
Aim of the study: to evaluate the efficiency of using the Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF) as a plug for closure of oroantral fistula.
Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on twenty patients. Patients included within this study were of both gender, their age range from 29 to 45 years, suffered from established OAF. After de-coring of the fistula and curettage of the sinus lining, a Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF) plug was prepared through collection and centrifuge of a ten ml of whole venous blood. The PRF plug was then secured to cover the OAF and sutured in place.
Results: Clinical results showed that the 20 cases had a favorable healing course with no signs of infection, no adverse tissue reaction following the operation with complete closure of the OAF. On CBCT, By measuring the fluid level at the site of oroantral fistula, the mean value of the fluid level preoperatively was 9.397 mm ± 4.06 then it decreased after six months with the mean value 2.48 mm ± 0.96. When comparing both pre and post-operative values of fluid level they were statically significant.
Conclusion: The use of PRF membrane biological plug is effective in closure of medium sized oroantral fistulae. This method had proven usefulness, safety, availability in an easy-to-develop manner and finally its low cost.